July 9, 2010

Good morning, people. Did you get your coffee okay this morning? We went in search of a local café — I won't say exactly where — and after much maneuvering through numbered avenues and streets — let's just say the Mississippi River sets a grid awry — we found the place that seemed right. On inspection it seemed a bit twee — like a theme park recreation of a "café" — but what about WiFi? No! I need my coffee and blogging, even on vacation. This is what I do. Is it too much to ask? A little coffee and WiFi in the morning? So we take the latte to go — back to the hotel lobby, which has WiFi. The lobby also has coffee. Free coffee. But I don't like that coffee. Am I too fussy? I typo'd "fuzzy." Am I too fuzzy? Yes! I am! Without my coffee in the morning. And my WiFi. I am sharpening up now. The latte's half gone, and this post — the first post of the morning — is nearly written.

I had office coffee and I think it's just fine.No WiFi for me. Good oldfashioned Cat5 cables and my usual office chair are good for me.Alhouse is often my first read in the morning because it happens to be at the very top of my Favorites column.Nothing fuzzy about that.

Coffee is a vice. I like a good cup, but I'll get a cup at SuperAmerica if I need one.

Today I'm one-third of the way along a car trip. Drove from northern NJ; stayed two nights in Detroit, one night in Escanaba, and now staying in the Twin Cities two nights. Visiting two of my siblings, my addled father, and an old prof and friend who retired from the U of Minnesota journalism school.

When I leave here, I'll be heading West to visit my deceased partner's family on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and in Rapid City. The return trip may take a more southerly route, although I did enjoy the Upper Peninsula and would love to visit there again. (There's an Indian casino up there with craps and roulette tables, and the blackjack dealers stand on soft 17. Gotta love that!)

Actually, no. We had a coffee crisis this morning. I got a call on my way in to stop at QT and grab a small bag to get us through the morning, but all QT had was decaff (shudder). We're suffering through the morning with what the bossman had stashed in his RV.

Oh yes. I must have at least two strong cups of coffee in the morning to be less of a zombie.

"But I don't like that coffee. Am I too fussy?"

Nope. We have a right to like what we like and get what makes us happy.

We never travel for hotel stays without our portable coffee pot and some freshly ground coffee beans in a small tupperware type container. Even if there is an in room coffee machine I use mine. Their coffee is terrible and only makes itsy pots.

When this pot dies, I'm going to be very very sad, because it is an old metal perk type in a neato traveling case and irreplacable.

Not having any real liking for the taste of coffee (my mother cured me of it with her undeviating tendency to put mocha icing on any cake she made), I can't offer any opinion except that I've developed the nasty habit of simply shaking off the weight of dreamland with one jump out of bed.

For the rightish, as P.J. O'Rourke noted, attending to governmental duties is like taking out the garbage. It's something you have to do, but not something to be obsessed with.

More people in the USA are rightish; but we in this silent majority have been procrastinating, leaving undone those things which we ought to have done. Now the garbage pile is gigantic and starting to reek.

Good citizens are picking up their shovels to take care of the odiferous mess, and we're going to have to knock aside a hoarde of garbage fetish zombies to do it.

In the desert west we don't get "quad-cities", "tri-cities" or even "twin-cities". Towns here sprung up on roughly 30 mile intervals, in keeping with the 1880's capacity of the water tender and speed of the locomotive.

I grew up in the Quad Cities. If you're spending another day in Rock Island or just need some more coffee check out Theo's Java Club at 213 17th St in Rock Island. Hope you have a lovely time in the QC.

Speaking of minty fresh breath, I just now mixed Celestial Seasonings mint tea with regular pekoe tea and lemon for the most amazing iced tea ever. It's the sort of thing I would't have even tried until right now.

That river does screw with a grid. Here, people live on the West Bank, over the river, but to get there, you have to drive east. We don't use N/S/E/W to give directions; we use the river, the lake, Downtown and Uptown.

I live in the bottom bend of the river. There are four good coffee shops, all local, within walking distance, and all with wifi.

Not having either is disconcerting. We were on vacation this week, and had car trouble in Tennessee. The small town we got towed to had wifi in one place, the pizza parlor next to the car repair. The single hotel in town had one room, a smoking room that stank, and the wifi worked only in the manager's office. It was 100 degrees all day, and I couldn't find anywhere within walking distance for coffee. Miserable!

No I did not get my coffee okay this moring. We had a power outage from 8 pm last night until nearly 2 pm this afternoon. My husband got up at 5 and went to McDonalds because it was closest for our first cup of coffee -- absolutely essential that it be consumed within 15 minutes of waking. We then got dressed and drove around the neighborhood to see how many folks had power. Nobody on our street had lights on. Many large trees and limbs were down. However, McDonals was open so we went there for breakfast. I realize it's not real chic to eat breakfast at Micky D's but we were hungry and it was close by. Interestingly half the neighborhood was there and we saw people we'd never seen in 20 years of living here. Power is back on - just in time for the hottest part of the day, thank goodness.wv: phott.